The Burren reel

This tune also is named after a musician, I think it’s Charlie Harris - but don’t hold me to that. This is one of those tunes that goes back a long way for me, but I only bothered to figure it out recently. It sits well on both fiddle & the flute. It’s a real nice tune that should get more play because it’s not overly tough.

I learned this tune many years ago from some Swedish friends who gave me "The Burren" as the title. Later, at sessions I was always told that "The Burren" was "another tune", that this tune was "Charlie Harris’ Reel". Vindication at last!

it’s the best tune ive picked up in months. very nice when played k

T:Burren, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:Brendan Bulger: Brendan Bulger
R:reel
Z:Devin McCab
K:D
ABdB AF F/2F/2F|AFAd ~f3g|afef d~B3|dBAF EDFG|
ABdB AF F/2F/2F|AFAd ~f3g|afef d~B3|1Adfe d3B:|2Adfe dcde|
:f2ed BAFA|defg a2fa|g2fg edBA|dBAF EDFG|
ABdB AF F/2F/2F|AFAd ~f3g|afef d~B3|1Adfe dcde:|2Adfe d3B||

T:Burren, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:Cherish The Ladies : "Irish Women Musicians in America"
R:reel
Z:gian marco p.
Z:gm
K:D
|: B | ~A2AB AF~F2 | AFAd ~f3a | afef dB~B2 | dBAF EFDF |
~A2AB AF~F2 | AFAd ~f3a | afef dedB | Adfe d3 :|
|:e | f2ed BA~A2 | dcdf ~a3f | ~g2fg e~B3 | dBAF EFDE |
~A2AB AF~F2 | AFAd ~f3a |afef dedB | Adfe d3 :|

I’ll be surprised if this one hasn’t been posted already and I’ve just missed it. Couldn’t find it with an advanced search.

This tune is really common in the sessions here. 2 versions of it get played - this one and Seamus Tansey’s version - and people don’t seem to be able to decide which one to stick with. I think the version I’ve posted is fairly standard. I have a recording of someone playing the Tansey version but it’s on a minidisk and it’ll take me ages to find. When I track it down I’ll transcribe it here because I’d quite like to learn that version too so I can pick and choose which one I want to play.

Sorry, Mark - compare with "The Burren", posted in August 2003. Recorded by "De Danann" as "Charlie Harris’s", and sometimes known as "Creamer’s"

Ah well… Jeremy feel free to go ahead and erase the beautiful new sheetmusic you made for me 🙂

Before this goes, what’s this about a "Tansey" version? If you find it, could you add it on to the "Burren", please? Sounds interesting.

It’s okay, when I find it I’ll put it in the Burren comments. I can’t remember which disk it’s on. I may even have erased it by accident. If so I’ll get the person to play it again for me next session. It starts on the high octave A and is a completely different setting.

Re alternative title ‘Michael Cramer’s’, does anyone know who Michael Cramer is/was?

Both this and the ST setting get played at our session. Below is a transcription from a session recording, so it’s a "version of ST’s version". I don’t know much about flutes but I assume it’s achieved simply by overblowing:

|:~a3b af~f2|afAd ~f3g|af~f2 dB~B2|BAAF EFDf|
a2ab af~f2|afAd ~f3g|af~f2 dB~B2|Adfe d4:|
|:~f3d BAFb|af~f2 ~a3b|gBfB edBc|dBAF EFD2|
a3b af~f2|afAd ~f3g|af~f2 dB~B2|Adfe d4:|

Bars 3 and 4 of the 1st part are also overblown as a variation:

|:~a3b af~f2|afAd ~f3g|af~f2 db~b2|baaf efdf|
a2ab af~f2|afAd ~f3g|af~f2 dB~B2|Adfe d4:|

Matt Cunningham plays this tune on the fiddle on Vol 5 of his CD series "Dance Music of Ireland", in which he calls it "Creamer’s", thus:

DF | A3B AF (3FFF | AFAd fefa | afef db (3BBB | dBAF EFDF |
A3B AF (3FFF | AFAd fefa | afef db (3BBB | Agfe d2 :|
|: de | fded BAFA | dcde abaf | gefd edBA | dBAF EFDF |
A3B AF (3FFF | AFAd fefa | afef db (3BBB | Agfe d2 :||

He follows it with “Touch Me If You Dare”.

See https://thesession.org/tunes/1871/comments for Matt Cunningham’s version that he plays on the fiddle on CD 5 of his collection “Dance Music of Ireland”.

Also known as Creamer’s, Creamer’s, Charlie Harris’s…
Key signature: Dmajor
Submitted on September 20th 2004 by Dow.
https://thesession.org/tunes/3568

Source: Leitrim’s Hidden Treasure by McNamara Family
Transcription: gian marco pietrasanta

https://thesession.org/tunes/1871
https://thesession.org/tunes/3568

Key signature: D Major
Submitted on February 10th 2008 by gian marco.
~ /tunes/8249

X: 6
T: Michael Creamer’s
T: The Burren
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|: dB |\
A3 B AFDF | AFAd ~f3 g | afef dB ~B2 | dBAF FEDF |
A3 B AFDF | AFAd ~f3 g | afef dB ~B2 | Adfe d2 :|
|: de |\
fded BAFA | dcdf ~a3 f | gefd edBc | dBAF FEDF |
A3 B AFDF | AFAd ~f3 g | afef dB ~B2 | Adfe d2 :|

(alternate possible endings ~ | Adfe de | / | A2 fe d2 | / | Agfe d2 |)

Source: "Leitrim’s Hidden Treasure" by the McNamara Family
Transcription: gian marco pietrasanta

# Posted on February 10th 2008 by gian marco

Three is better then one. (Ancient Chinese proverb).

I learned a slightly different version than this one out of a book called THE IRISH SESSION TUNES. I don’t remember what it was named in the book and I don’t have the book any more. The book was a very thin pruple soft cover copy.

on the cd this track is listed as:

Reels - (Band Selection)
the track has three reels:
Maid Behind the Bar
The Burren
Touch Me if you Dare


X:1
T:The Burren
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:reel
K:Dmaj
DF|:AFAB AFED|AFAd f2fa|gefd edBA|dBAF EFDF|
|AFAB AFED|AFAd f2fa|gefd edBA|1agfe d2 DF:|2agfe dAde||
|:fded BdAG|FDFA dfaf|gefd edBA|dBAF EFDF|
|AFAB AFED|AFAd f2fa|gefd edBA|1agfe dAde:|2agfe d2|]

C.H. apparently got the tune from Joe McKenna.

Key signature: D Major
Submitted on October 29th 2008 by bayswater.
~ /tunes/9042

X: 8
T: Fluters, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|: B |\
ABdB AF ~F2 | AFAB ~f3 a | afef dB ~B2 | dBAF E2 ED |
ABdB AF ~F2 | AFAB ~f3 a | afef dB ~B2 | A2 fe ~d3 :|

|: e |\
f2 ed BAFB | ABdf a2 fa | g2 fg edBc | dBAF E2 ED |
ABdB AF ~F2 | AFAB ~f3 a | afef dB ~B2 | A2 fe ~d3 :|

(rolls ‘~’ have been added and the notation, as an example, changed from A F3 to AF ~F2… Also, the lead-ins have been added, for example, from A2 fe d3 e to |: e |\ ~ ‘c’)

This tune…is found on Mark Robert’s album "The Gloup".

# Posted on October 29th 2008 by bayswater

This is a different setting, but clearly the same tune as Michael Creamer’s (aka Charlie Harris’), already posted here.

# Posted on October 30th 2008 by Will CPT

This reel is called "Ril Josie McDermott" on Donncha O Briain’s Gael Linn album. Any way to fix the entry on the session.org for that album to point to this tune?

Yep. Go to the details page for this tune and click on the link that asks "Do you know this tune by another name?" and add "Ril Josie McDermott" to the list of alternate names. The recording will automatically link, as long as you spell it exactly the same as in the recording track listing.

The tune appearing as ‘The Burren’ in Bulmer and Sharpley’s "Music from Ireland" (book 4, #34) in the key of G is an entirely different tune, related to the tune ‘Star of Kilkenny’ in O’Neill’s and older sources. See
https://thesession.org/tunes/2663

I once was told it’s a Vincent Broderick tune, but I wouldn’t be sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC3CL7uNxLg

play video

https://youtu.be/1_BLcC4Mr1E

play video

https://youtu.be/1_BLcC4Mr1E

play video

Taken from ‘A Fine Selection of Over 200 Irish Traditional Tunes for Sessions’, compiled by David Speers with a Forward by Matt Cranitch. This setting has a couple of differences so I’ve added it. It’s a great session tune that, as has already been said, we should hear more of!

Chris Droney wrote a pair of tunes called The Burren Reels. I’ll try and post them soon

Conal O’Grada has this tune as "The Tinker’s Daughter" on https://thesession.org/recordings/384.
He attributes it to Patsy Hanley.

This tune I know as Charlie Harris’s from the playing on Sean Ryan (whistle), who follows it with Lucky in Love. I’ve played this set for years. The name Michael Cramer is not familiar to me . Any idea who he is/was? Charlie Harris is a box player , but in both cases there may be an original name for this tune behind these two names ?

…………..and now, after years of painstaking research (!) I find this snippet of information about the elusive Michael Cramer/ Creamer ………”Michael McNamara, the Leitrim flute player and scion of the famous musical family, says that Michael Creamer was an itinerant labourer who came to the Leitrim area from northern Ireland. Creamer played the whistle and knew about a dozen tunes, but always started the evening with this one, which entered local tradition and was named in his honor.”

So, maybe Michael is the one who called it The Burren ………

Played by Brendan Monaghan on whistle, accompanied by Pat Connolly, on "Youtube" [ first reel ] :
https://youtu.be/85vJbt2HCeY

play video